wedding weekend in Michigan

Ben and I traveled to Grand Rapids last weekend to celebrate the wedding of our friend Ryan to his new bride, Amy. It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and one only made possibly by my dad offering to come to St. Louis to hang with the kids. Thanks, Dad, You are the best.

We left Friday afternoon as soon as I was done teaching. Even without stops, we did not make it to Michigan until 8:30 that evening. We almost completed the drive to Grand Rapids that night so we could have no driving the next day, but we opted to stop in South Haven, about an hour away, for the night instead. Stopping allowed for a Friday night dinner date as well as some wondering/exploring on Saturday morning. With zero expectations for Saturday morning, we lucked into some wonderful stops.  The weather was beautiful, the sky was blue, and the company was the best. It was a couple of my favorite hours of the entire weekend.

We headed into Grand Rapids around noon to meet up with our group of friends for drinks and lunch. The fourteen hours that followed were FULL of laughter, drinking, dancing, and silliness. When I crashed in bed in our hotel room late that night, I just felt so much love for our lifelong friends and so thankful for the fun we always have together.

Ben and I woke the next morning wishing we still had the ability to sleep in. Not sure when I lost that, but it would really come in handy sometime. We were showered and checked out of the hotel about six hours after I fell asleep the night before. We treated ourselves to cinnamon rolls and lattes in Holland, Michigan and then drove on to Round Barn Winery to meet up with our good friends Kim and Joel for lunch and wine tasting. As much as we would have loved to spend the entire day with them drinking wine and talking on the prettiest fall day, we knew we had lots of driving ahead of us. We spent the rest of the day in the car, arriving home with just enough time to hear all about the kids' fun weekend with Grandpa before they went to bed. Ben and I crashed hard in our own beds not long after. The weekend away was a blast, but not a restful getaway.

Fifteen hours of drive time for about thirty hours in Michigan. The math doesn't really add up, but it was completely worth it. Loved the time with Ben in the car talking. Loved the time with friends. Loved the weather change for the weekend. Loved having hiccups three times this weekend from laughing at the ridiculous antics of some of the silliest, best people I know.

My heart is full.